Leeds Wins Bid for Channel 4 National HQ

Leeds Wins Bid for Channel 4 National HQ

We are delighted with the news that Channel 4 will be moving its National Headquarters to Leeds. It’s hugely significant for the sector and a validation of the city’s production expertise and potential for further growth. We have worked tirelessly with the Leeds City Region team throughout the bid process and believe passionately that it will enable Channel 4 to engage with and better reflect audiences outside of London. Today’s decision will be transformational to the screen industries in the Leeds City Region – and indeed across the North of England. We look forward to welcoming Channel 4 and working with them to capitalise on the creative opportunities that this bold move brings.

Sally Joynson, Chief Executive, Screen Yorkshire

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Leeds put forward a compelling and ambitious strategy for how they could work alongside Channel 4 to further build the strong independent production sector in the city and develop new diverse talent from across the region. Locating our National HQ in Leeds enables us to capitalise on a strong and fast-growing independent production sector in cities across the North of England – and also has the potential to unlock growth in the North East and East of the country, an area without a major presence from other national broadcasters.

Alex Mahon, Channel 4 Chief Executive

Following a rigorous process which was set out publicly in April, detailed discussions were undertaken with all six cities over the last three months, led by Channel 4’s Chief Commercial Officer Jonathan Allan, alongside Chief Executive Alex Mahon. Reed Smith were external advisors to the Channel 4 process to ensure it followed best practice and Deloitte LLP provided support to provide an objective framework for use in Channel 4’s assessment of the cities. Following these discussions, a recommendation was made by Alex Mahon and the Channel 4 Executive team, which was today approved by the Channel 4 Board.

The Channel 4 Executive team and Channel 4 Board’s view was that all six cities taken forward for consideration as a National HQ or Creative Hub delivered exceptionally high quality pitches and all demonstrated that their cities would be excellent locations for Channel 4 and would be able to offer high levels of innovation, creativity, and support for the corporation and the wider creative industries.

In this highly competitive field it was their view that Leeds was best able to deliver against Channel 4’s vision and objectives for a new National HQ. The Leeds City Region put forward a comprehensive, compelling and ambitious strategy to partner with Channel 4 and the wider sector to support growth in the production and creative industries, and to nurture new talent from diverse backgrounds – in the region and across the UK.

Locating the National HQ in Leeds will enable Channel 4 to capitalise on a strong and fast-growing independent production sector across the North of England – and further unlock the potential for growth in the underserved East and North-East of England. It is extremely well-positioned to be a base for collaboration with producers and creative talent across other cities including Bradford, Hull, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield.

Leeds is home to a thriving digital industry and a strong digital talent pool and this will help support Channel 4’s new Digital Creative Unit, which will be established in the National HQ to grow the Corporation’s impact across digital and social media platforms.

Leeds also demonstrated a passionate commitment to work with Channel 4 to bring diverse new talent into the industry, working in partnership with other organisations and educational establishments – and through harnessing the diversity of different communities across the wider West Yorkshire region, such as Bradford.